Although it is possible to invite people to media presentations of live events as they happen, it is a tedious process requiring that one first know who to invite followed by sending to those individuals, invitations to the presentation of the live event all the while hoping that maybe they receive the message in time to experience the event as it occurs. Consider the task of setting up a video conference call, on the fly, from a video conference device. In addition to being tedious and somewhat risky, it is also restrictive as to the devices used.
Push services are currently available whereby clients on a user device receive content that is distributed from a server. Distribution in this manner is referred to as a push, because the server pushes that information out to the client whenever new content is available on one of those channels. The client generally “subscribes” to information channels offered by the server. Indeed, many people subscribe to real-time alerts for sports, news or stocks. Some examples of push services include online chat messaging systems, online gaming, market data distribution, and in some instances email.
In the client-server scenarios, the server is aware of the client's identity and particularly the client's network address. In this manner, the server is able to push content at will and without delay. The client can identify itself to the server, e.g., during a registration process during which it can provide its identity and address.